When Kurtis Rourke missed the second half of Indiana football’s 56-7 victory over Nebraska on Oct.13, Indiana football head coach Curt Cignetti was initially optimistic.
But just one day later, the program announced Rourke would “be out an indefinite period of time” but was expected to return this season. Indiana’s offense sputtered without him in the first half of its victory over Washington on Oct. 26.
On Monday, Cignetti said he was optimistic about the outlook around Rourke returning. On Thursday, the 63-year-old head coach confirmed Rourke would start Saturday against Michigan State.
And while Rourke started, the Hoosiers went three-and-out on their opening two drives against Michigan State. But the No. 13 Hoosiers answered the Spartans’ 10-0 lead with 47 unanswered points en route to a 47-10 victory Saturday inside Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan.
“I think I knew early Monday, maybe Tuesday that he’d be able to start and every day he was better in terms of his execution, zip and accuracy,” Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti said postgame. “I thought he played great.”
The Hoosiers’ slow start marked the first time this season they allowed their opponent to score in the opening quarter and also the first time they have trailed.
“All sorts of adversity has come up this season, but we’ve never trailed before,” Rourke said postgame. “So I think it was a good opportunity to show that we don’t have to get down on ourselves, nothing has to spiral and just be able to stick to the gameplan, trust that we’ll be able to get back in the game, which we did, and handle business from there.”
Indiana turned it on at the end of the frame. Just eight seconds into the second quarter, Rourke found senior tight end Zach Horton open for a 17-yard touchdown to cut the Hoosiers’ deficit to 3.
Less than eight minutes later, seventh-year senior running back Ty Son Lawton rushed into the endzone for a 1-yard touchdown. Indiana took the lead for the first time and never looked back.
And neither did Rourke.
He started the game just 1-for-4 passing. But at halftime, Rourke was 11 for 16 for 139 yards and two touchdowns as Indiana led 21-10.
The Hoosiers continued to dominate in the second half, starting with sophomore defensive back D’Angelo Ponds’ blocked punt that resulted in a safety and 2 more points for Indiana.
Then the offense started to roll once again. Rourke tossed an 18-yard touchdown pass to fifth-year senior wide receiver Myles Price on a wide-open wheel route.
There was no stopping Indiana.
Sophomore kicker Nicolas Radicic tacked on a field goal and redshirt sophomore receiver Omar Cooper Jr. found the endzone on a reverse to the give the Hoosiers a 40-10 lead.
And Rourke, in his final play of the game, found junior receiver Elijah Sarratt for an 11-yard touchdown to increase Indiana’s advantage to 37 points.
Like he did two weeks ago, Jackson entered the game in relief of Rourke — this time because the Hoosiers had sealed the victory still with over half the final quarter remaining en route to a 47-10 walloping.
Rourke finished 19 for 29 for 263 yards and four touchdowns. It wasn’t until Tuesday or Wednesday, Rourke said, that he realized he felt good enough to play Saturday. During the week of practice, he had to figure out what equipment would best suit his thumb.
“When I knew that Michigan State might’ve been a possibility, I tried to think of ways to properly throw and everything,” Rourke said. “My thumb was pretty swollen, and it still is a little bit so I lost a little bit of grip, so I needed something that would be sticky enough that I could play with but not prohibit throwing the ball as well.”
Rourke sported a splint that covered his nail and finger, and also a cutoff glove on his right hand that covered just his thumb for extra grip. With every throw he made against the Spartans, he said his thumb felt sore.
Rourke explained postgame that he did not want to put his team in jeopardy by returning to action too soon knowing that the team would be “in good hands” with Jackson under center.
But after his four-touchdown day, Rourke looked to be back to his usual self, before he suffered the injury against the Cornhuskers.
When Rourke underwent X-rays at halftime of the Nebraska game, he realized he was going to miss time. However, he said he originally thought he would miss more than just one game.
But he didn’t, and now Indiana football is 9-0 for the first time in program history. No longer does the team have to be optimistic that Rourke will be able to play as well as he did before his injury. Now, the Hoosiers can be optimistic that they’ll continue their historic season making even more history.
Follow reporters Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) and Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and columnist Jhett Garrett (@jhettgarrett) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
